


Ancient History

by camshaft22



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-07
Updated: 2008-02-07
Packaged: 2017-11-16 05:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/536018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camshaft22/pseuds/camshaft22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lorne has a brush with some Ancient History</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ancient History

  
It was Ancient History.

Evan Lorne sat in the Mess Hall, finally eating lunch after Sheppard’s team had went out. He was on Atlantis, fulfilling his role as Sheppard’s second, which was honestly more interesting than it sounded but he did more of the man’s paperwork than he did, and making sure everything was smooth with the Military and the Scientists. Evan was almost immediately adopted by even the most stubborn Scientists in Atlantis, even thought there was still some of the Them vs. Us attitudes around. He had Zelenka’s blessing which seemed to go far, Parrish was just Parrish, and he knew that the fact that he let them go on and on about something that only mildly interested him was a major reason he was the defacto go to Military guy even with Sheppard and McKay. Sheppard only had the Physics dept. Lorne had every department. Hell, the anthropologists just liked him because he worked with Dr. Jackson. Once.

Which was why Zelenka paged him over his radio. Radek and he had become friends after one of McKay’s more spectacular blow ups at the Scientists. Radek had finally just left him as he started on the normal ‘Everyone is an idiot but me and this is why’ rant and after some coffee later, the two of them were exchanging stories about being ‘Seconds’ to the Rock Stars of Atlantis and only solidifying when the two of them played the ‘Game‘ with those developing societies. If Dr. Weir’s looks of disappointment could kill, he would‘ve been standing in heaven with his Grandpa in two seconds flat. Evan touched his earpiece, deciding that he could finish his random sketching some other time.

“Lorne here.”

“Ah, Major. I need you down to the lab. We have found something.” Zelenka’s voice came over the com, burning with excitement. 

“Uh. Ok. Give me a moment to finish up here and I’ll be right there. What is it?” He asked, hesitantly. 

“We need your gene to activate it… even possibly use it. You were the only one I could think of.” He answered and started talking in Czech to one of the Scientists.

“Don’t they have the gene?” Evan asked as he got up, giving up already. But he still had to fight a little bit. It was way too ingrained. 

“Yes, but we need someone who’s not working on this. Lt. Colonel Sheppard is off world.” He said as if this explained everything. 

Evan sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon. “Alright. I’m on my way. Lorne out.” He was going to be guinea pig for the rest of the day, or at least until a minor (he hoped it wasn’t major) emergency forced him to leave or Sheppard returned. Let Atlantis’ favored son switch on the doohickeys. Evan rode the transport down to the labs, went to the one he figured they were using and found Zelenka attaching cables to a laptop while Dr. Pepoy, one of the anthropologists that had been old school SGC, translated.

“So, what is it?” Evan asked, making the two of them jump. He concealed a smile about that. Tomita and Radek exchanged looks. 

“We believe it’s a memory recall device.” Radek said, his eyes wide in excitement. 

“Memory recall? Like…” He looked at him, grasping it, but not quite sure if that’s what he meant.

“You would be able to relive your life, sort through memories you have. Possibly, if we are correct, see who has used it before you.”

Pepoy jumped in. “There are several crystals here that Dr. Zelenka thinks has the memories of the Ancients encoded upon them. But we haven’t been able to turn it on.”

Evan narrowed his eyes. “Wait, wasn’t there a SG-1 mission that dealt with some technology like that?” 

“Yes. But this one is different.” Radek shook his head, trying to find the words to explain it. “That was-”

Pepoy interrupted. “I think what Dr. Zelenka means it this was the original. That device was likely taken by the Goa’uld and modified, maybe even backwards engineered then when we happened upon it, even more backwards engineered.

Zelenka nodded. “Exactly.” He sent an irritated look that would’ve impressed McKay over to Pepoy. She gave him a sheepish smile and whispered ‘Sorry’. He shrugged it off, waving it away as if to say, it‘s not necessary and it‘s alright. 

Evan still wasn’t sold on the idea. This sounded like it could be really embarrassing at the least or even deadly to the most. “Not to be a wet blanket here, but don’t you think this is slightly violating? I don’t want to share my memories with,” He paused for effect. “Anyone. I mean, stories are one thing, but play by play, you see what I see, not so much.”

With the looks the two of them had exchanged, apparently that thought hadn’t occurred to them. Evan could already hear the ‘It’s perfectly safe, we won’t allow this to hurt you, it’s all in the name of science, it’s a risk, but it shouldn’t hurt you’ from both of them. He sighed, knowing his ass was in a sling. “Alright. But if I loose all my memories from this or get brain damage, you both are fully responsible.”

As they tried to assure him that it would never happen, Evan sat down, placed his hands on the device and as the light washed over him, he jerked and fell backwards off the stool.

~*~*~*~*

He opened his eyes in the Infirmary, the warm Atlantis walls welcoming him. Damnit. Why was he such a pushover? Radek owed him. This was Sheppard’s job, not his. Oh, Radek and his endless black market contacts owed him spectacularly. He expected real beer, new porn and a new music on his laptop once he got out of here.

“Hello?” He called out, figuring he was mostly ok to have been left alone like this. He started to sit up when he heard footsteps coming in his direction and was shocked to see someone dressed like Helia standing there. Oh Fuck.

“You’re awake. We were worried. You collapsed so suddenly in the hallway…”

Evan looked at her in confusion as he slid his feet off the bed and put them firmly on the floor. Ooh shit. “Uh. I feel ok.”

The woman didn’t press, instead she smiled in relief. “Do you think you can make the briefing, General?”

General? Whew boy. He was all over the rank chart today. This had to be some guy’s memories… unless it was a time machine and if it was, he was so going to kick Radek’s ass. Time Travel sucked. Evan was lucky enough not to know from personal experience (so far) but just the concept sucked. If he changed something, they could completely screw over the timeline and frankly, he didn’t want to end up shooting anything in the foot, so to speak. He’d play along for now, see what he could do and hope that they figured a way to get him out of this before he got imprisoned or killed. “I should be able… Remind me what it’s about again?” He asked, getting up with the hope that a superior officer that wasn’t him was leading it and he was just there. If he had to give a briefing, he was sunk.

“The newest Wraith incursion. General Tamilus is giving it and asked for your input as the lead of our fleet.” She answered, as if used to these sorts of questions. Maybe she was an aide? Evan shook his head as she continued. “The Healer has cleared you for duty, Sir, but if you wish to reschedule…”

“No, no. We’ll.. We’ll go ahead. Maybe he’s found some tactics that we can use.” He said, thinking of his Atlantis.

“Very well, Sir.” They started walking through the city. It was… Atlantis. Hell, he half expected Ronon or Parrish or someone familiar to walk by. Instead, he got a lot of very unfamiliar faces that smiled and greeted him before going on with their work. He must be some awesome kinda guy… or they faked it just that good. His aide led him into the briefing room, well at least that was the same, and they found seats as another man, inclined his head in greeting and got back to arranging his meeting. Must be Tamilus. 

“General Hippaforalkus, Sylva, nice of you to join us. I’m glad you’re well.”

 Evan blanched. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. Irony was such a bitch. “As am I. Sylva tells me you wanted my input on these plans of yours?” He said, trying for formal.

Tamilus looked vaguely insulted. “My plans are fine. I just need you to provide the proper support with Tria and your _personal_ vessel, Marrian.” 

Uh-oh. Apparently he and this guy didn’t get along. “I’ll be the judge of that. Let’s hear your plan.” He said mildly.

*~*~*~*~*

Evan walked out of the briefing, rubbing his temples. This guy was a moron. They had discovered the shipyards of the Wraith and we’re planning a joint ground/ air assault to grab what they could from the vessels then have his… Hippaforalkus’ ships bombard the entire thing. Which was great in theory, but honestly, they should just bombard the damn things then shift through the rubble. But Tamilus had the support of the council. Evan didn’t know if he was irritated or if it was this guy he seemed to be pretending to be. It reminded him of Sergeant Hannibal when he was on his first tour. Didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground and almost got him killed twice.

Sylva gave him a patient smile. “Shall I alert the Tria’s captain?”

“Yes. Take care of that. Is the Marrian docked?” He asked, risking his cover. Well, if he had to play along, he might as well get a good look at his ship.

“Yes, Sir. Dock 2, south. They had to move it for repairs.” She answered. They arrived at the transport and he stepped inside. “Thank you, Sylva.” The doors closed as he pressed the south side and thought really hard. Oh, he was screwed.

The doors slid open and revealed several ships on the ground with people swarming around them. Evan’s breath was taken away from the sight. Wow. That was incredible. They must’ve had most of their fleet sitting here…. One of the technicians ran over to him. “General. We’ve finished with the retrofits and she’s ready for action.” 

Evan smiled. “Good. Take me to her and you can go over what you and your men have done.”

The technician gave him a whirlwind tour, but Evan couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness. Was he here to stop something bad happening or was this just a recounting of events that he was living? He quickly decided that he’d been watching too much TV (HA!) and to just go with it. If it was something they could fix, Radek would fix it and get him out. Still, his stomach churned and the hair on the back of his neck stood up as he thought about this plan. It was Iraq all over again… and that suck ass mission that had almost ended him not once but twice. The crew filed in and he settled into his chair, giving out orders here and there, but mostly enjoying the take off maneuvers. If this was a memory, he wondered if Colonel Caldwell wouldn’t enjoy doing this… Evan might be a flyboy, but there was something like poetry in a big bird like this. It wasn’t so different from the Orion… except they knew a little bit more about how it worked, unlike him and Zelenka.

“Take us to the planet and order Tria’s captain,” Who actually was Helia as a matter of fact, as weird as that was for him. “To take a holding position until we know if Tamilus’ plan has worked.”

“Yes, Sir.” The Communications technician said from her post. They jumped to hyperspace and exited upon a battle. Hive ships were everywhere, the Lantean puddle jumpers that Tamilus had brought his troops in on zipping in and out of fire, two already drifting dead. “Bring up Shields, full power to weapons! Target the lead ship and try to raise any of our people who might be out there!” A blast from a Wraith Cruiser got their ship, burning through the bridge in one horrible moment and Evan’s vision turned black.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Major! Chvála bohu you're probudit! My mamy been asi tolik-” He stopped. “We are so glad you are awake!” Radek said excitedly, standing at the foot of the bed. Evan gave him a confused look. Ok, well at least he looked familiar. That had to be a good thing… but Oh God. He was dead, wasn’t he? Evan shook himself as he heard Radek saying something. “The device made you collapse in the lab. We brought you here, but it was like you were not home. Just a body.” Radek shook his head. “Pepoy was able to discover that it was interactive. You, your brain patterns were inside.”

“Whoa… Rewind. My brain was inside that damn thing?!” Evan exclaimed, sitting up quickly then laying back down as his head started spinning and erupted in pain.

“Yes. Very scary. But I was able to find you, find who you were attached too. Very useful history teaching tool…” Radek frowned. “But I do not think worth the risk. Would you not agree?”

“Yeah. Understatement there, buddy.” Evan looked at him and pulled the pillow over his eyes. “You owe me, Zelenka.” He muttered, trying not to think of Hippaforalkus’ final moments. Evan didn’t like that feeling… that cease he knew he felt.

Radek put a hand on his shoulder. “Yes. Immensely. I owe you.” His lips curved into a smile. “I will be sure to be a shark on Chess tournament Sunday, yes?”

“That’d be a start.” Evan said, grinning at him…. And feeling just a little better for learning some Ancient history after all.

  
 


End file.
